His Reluctant Bride. Sara Craven
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shook his head reprovingly. ‘Your skills as a hostess seem sadly lacking, cara mia. Perhaps you feel at a disadvantage for some reason?’
‘Or maybe I prefer company I actually invited here,’ Polly threw back at him. ‘And you’ll never be on any guest-list of mine.’
‘You entertain much, do you—in this box? I’m sure you find the sofa that turns into a bed a convenience—for visitors who linger.’
‘This is my home,’ she said. ‘And I assure you it caters for all my needs.’ She paused. ‘Now I’d like you to go.’
Quite apart from anything else, it was uncomfortable and undignified crouching below the rim of the bath like this. And the water was getting colder by the minute, she thought angrily.
His brows lifted. ‘Without knowing why I am here? Aren’t you a little curious, Paola mia?’
‘I can’t think of one good reason for you to inflict yourself on me again,’ she told him raggedly. ‘Can’t you understand you’re the last person I want to see?’ She sent him a hostile glance. ‘Unless you’ve come to tell me that you’ve had a change of heart, and you’ve decided not to proceed with the custody application.’
‘No,’ Sandro said gently. ‘I have not. I simply felt that we should talk together in private. Maybe even in peace. Who knows?’
‘I know.’ Her voice was stormy. ‘And we have nothing to discuss. You want to rob me of my son? I’m going to fight you every step of the way. And my parents will be behind me.’
‘No.’ Sandro inclined his head almost regretfully. ‘They will not.’ He raised the glass he was still holding. ‘Now, I am going to pour you some more wine. I think you are going to need it.’
He allowed her to absorb that, then continued. ‘So, I suggest you stop trying to hide in that inadequate bath, and join me in the other room.’ He took a towel from the rail and tossed it to her, then walked out, closing the door behind him.
Polly scrambled to her feet, holding the towel defensively against her as she stepped out gingerly onto the mat. She began to dry herself with hasty, clumsy hands, keeping an apprehensive eye on the door in case Sandro chose to return.
Not that she could do much about it even if he did, she thought, grimacing. And it was ridiculous, anyway, behaving like some Victorian virgin in front of a man who’d seen her naked so many times before. Someone who’d kissed and caressed every inch of the bare skin she was now so anxious to conceal.
Instead of this burning self-consciousness, she should have pretended it didn’t matter. Demonstrated her complete and utter indifference to his presence whether she was dressed or undressed.
Fine in theory, she thought. But much trickier in practice. Especially if Sandro had interpreted her apparent sang-froid as provocation …
Her mouth felt suddenly dry, forcing her to abandon that train of thought for one just as disturbing. What was that comment about her parents meant to imply? What had been said in her absence—and, dear God, what pressure had been brought to bear?
She needed to find out, and quickly.
She looked down at the small pile of clothing she’d discarded earlier. Common sense suggested she should put it back on. Use it as part of the armour her instinct assured her that she was going to need.
But in the end, she opted for the elderly cotton robe hanging on the back of the door. It was plain and prim, without an ounce of seduction in its unrevealing lines, she thought, fastening the sash in a tight double bow. Her equivalent of a security blanket, perhaps.
Then, drawing a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and marched defiantly into the living room, only to halt, disconcerted, when she found it deserted.
The door to Charlie’s room was ajar, however, and she ran, stumbling slightly on the skirts of her robe, and pushed it open.
Sandro’s back was to the door, but he was bending over Charlie’s cot, his hands reaching down, and she felt her heart miss a beat. Was he planning to snatch her baby while he thought she was safely in the bathroom?
‘What are you doing in here?’ she hissed. ‘Don’t touch him. Don’t dare.’
Sandro straightened, and turned. ‘I saw this on the floor.’ He held up a small brown teddy bear. ‘I was replacing it.’ He paused. ‘And I came in simply to watch my son sleep. A pleasure that has been denied me for the past two years,’ he added coldly.
‘And which you want to deny me permanently,’ Polly flung at him, tight-lipped.
His smile was wintry. ‘Just as you would have done to me, mia cara, if fate had not intervened,’ he returned unanswerably.
He held the door, allowing her to precede him back into the living room.
He looked round him, his expression disparaging. ‘And this is where you have allowed him to spend the beginning of his life? In this conigliera?’
‘And what precisely does that mean?’
‘A hutch,’ he said. ‘For rabbits.’
She bit her lip. The room did seem to have shrunk suddenly, or was it just the effect of Sandro’s presence? And the bed being open and made up didn’t help either. In fact it was a serious embarrassment.
‘It was all I could afford at the time,’ she said. ‘And it works,’ she added defiantly, thinking of the hours she’d spent painting the walls, and stripping and stencilling the small chest of drawers which held Charlie’s things, and which just fitted into his room. He gave no credit, either, she thought bitterly, for the way she kept the place neat and spotless.
‘One word from you,’ he said harshly, ‘one hint that you were incinta, and it would all have changed. My son would have come into the world at Comadora, in the bed where I was born, and my father and grandfather before me.’ He took her by the shoulder, whirling her to face him. His voice was passionate. ‘Dio, Paola, why did you not tell me? How could you let me exist without knowing?’
‘Because we were no longer together.’ She freed herself from his grasp. ‘I made a decision that my baby was going to be part of my life only, and that I wanted nothing from you.’ She paused. ‘Didn’t I make that clear enough at the time?’
‘More than clear.’ His mouth twisted. ‘What I could not understand was—why.’ He frowned. ‘You could not have truly believed I was Mafioso. That is impossible—assurdo.’
‘Why not? It was evident there were things you hadn’t told me,’ Polly countered. ‘Things you didn’t want me to know.’ She shrugged. ‘What was I supposed to think?’
‘Not, perhaps, to give me the benefit of the doubt?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘Any more than you decided to tell me the truth. And I expect we both had our reasons.’
‘Sì,’ Sandro said quietly. ‘But I also have regrets, which you do not seem to share.’
‘You’re wrong.’ She looked down at the floor. ‘I wish very much that I had never met you.’
‘Unfortunately for us both, the situation cannot be changed.’ His voice was a drawl. He picked up her refilled glass from the chest of drawers and handed it to her. ‘Shall we drink to our mistakes?’
Polly realised she was holding the glass as if it might explode. ‘This isn’t a social occasion,’ she reminded him tautly. ‘You said you came here to talk.’
‘And I would do so,’ he said, ‘if I thought you were in any mood to listen.’ He paused. ‘I had better fortune with your parents.’
Polly stiffened. ‘What have you been saying to them? If you’ve threatened them …’
He gave her